Aerosmith's Joe Perry talks Tyler, tour

MUSIC

Updated 3:08 am, Sunday, July 29, 2012

Aerosmith is back on the road and back in the studio but is the band really back together? After a contentious few years where frontman Steven Tyler was either hurting himself by falling offstage or threatening to leave the group - his role as a judge on "American Idol" didn't help matters - it's spending the summer on the road with the Global Warming Tour. There is also a new album, "Music From Another Dimension," Aerosmith's first new release since 2004's mostly covers project "Honkin' on Bobo," due out in November. Calling from the band's hometown of Boston, guitarist Joe Perry filled us in on the state of affairs ahead of Saturday's show at Oracle Arena.

Q:You had some pretty harsh words for Steven Tyler when he became a judge on "American Idol." How did you guys sort things out?

A: It's just the normal workings of a dysfunctional family. Everybody says stuff. You don't get here without a bunch of crap and baggage. The main thing is we want to keep the band together.

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Q:Do you think it helps to take that stuff to the public?

A: I don't know if what I had to say did anything to Steven. He's got his own business. I don't think he was ever planning on leaving the band forever. I will say this, his involvement in "American Idol" didn't take away from his participation in the record. We just got to spend a little more time working on the tracks, for better or worse.

Q:On the last tour Steven kept falling offstage. Have you considered putting him on a leash?

A: Well, you know, it's a contact sport.

Q:I was watching some clips from this tour and you guys look like best friends onstage. What happens when you walk off?

A: Let's put it this way, I take the bus he takes the plane. We all have different lives. I like my time away from the band. It just makes it more powerful when we're together. We did the same plane for years when we were younger. Now we're full grown men and we have our own interests. But we're all still here. That's no small feat.

Q: Apart from the covers album and a couple tours, Aerosmith didn't do much for most of the 2000s. Do you feel like you wasted a decade?

A: Well, I certainly felt very anxious to get this record done. We tried three times, getting a studio and producer and everything. It just wasn't time for it to be done. You can sit there and talk about what we could have done. I think this new record is really the record I've been wanting to make for the past 10 years. I know the other guys feel that way. I hope the fans feel that way too. {sbox}

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